The issues of forest fires and the alleged murder of a Trade Union leader on the Parbati project in Kullu, interrupted the proceedings of the Vidhan Sabha a number of times on Thursday. The Speaker, Mr Gangu Ram Musafir, had a tough time maintaining order in the House. The Forest minister, Mr Chander Kumar, faced a surge of supplementaries from the members on the issue of forest fires. Mr Chander Kumar informed the House that during February 1 to June 20 this year, there were 623 incidents of forest fires in which 11,777 hectare of forest land was affected, causing a loss of about Rs 74 lakh. He also informed about the preventive measures adopted by the Forest Department like the clearing of fire lines of 1284-km length and controlling of the fire over an area of 5,000 hectare.